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Clients today are demanding more wealth management products, their expectations fed by the technology-enhanced customer experience they have grown accustomed to receiving from innovative organisations, says Patrick J O’ Brien, Business Journalist…

The industry is still growing, and fast. The wealth of high-net-worth individuals is expected to grow by 6% annually, while over the next 15 years those older than 65 with investable assets of more than USD1 million are expected to increase sevenfold

BRIC economies are among the fastest wealth creation hubs in the world, couple that with explosive growth in the use of the internet for private banking and wealth management, firms likes EXANTE a next generation brokerage company have spotted a niche in the market to offer HNWI premium and unique products while also giving an attentive and personal service.

By bringing the wealth manager search online rather than down at the tennis club, it enables a more transparent and more competitive landscape where choice is shown to the client and decisions are based on fact, not on discretion. These Internet savvy entrepreneurial millionaires expect something very different from their wealth providers than simple estate planning and expensive lunches – a change in attitude to greater sophistication that is being mirrored if at an ironically slower pace, in more advanced markets.

Traditionally, private clients found their wealth managers through recommendation, name and brand, customers today want service, performance, competitive fees and a diverse range of supplemental requirements

The reputational blows dealt to the big financial institutions throughout the banking crisis have opened the market to smaller firms giving competition which meant transparency. To succeed in the decade ahead, established companies have leveraged technology in much the same way that their cutting-edge counterparts have in other industries.

By doing so they have embrace a digital approach to doing business that is online, mobile, social, real-time, and 24/7. Getting there means rethinking just about everything, from how they interact with clients to how they conduct business in the back office.

Wealth managers who have products, services, and pricing capable of withstanding that sort of scrutiny – and who would be willing to make it easy for clients to undertake that level of scrutiny – could change the equilibrium of their industry by allowing and fostering it.

There is no doubt that firms offering online brokerage products that can deliver this entire spectrum of experiences will be best positioned to prosper in the decade ahead.